Lois walked with me out of the Daily Planet. We hadn't really been alone with each other since that day at lunch, now we were in an elevator alone together. I suppose that's what happens when you work late, you end up in an elevator either by yourself or one other person.

"Have you been avoiding me," she asked once the doors closed. Okay, so maybe this was planned.

"Yes," I replied deciding to be just as honest.

"Is it because you don't like me," she asked. This is peaking my interest now.

"Do you care whether or not I like you," I asked with an eyebrow up and a bit bemused.

"No I don't," she said crossing her arms. Maybe I should not toy with her. She must be going through something because as far as I know, she is acting strange. I pushed the stop button on the elevator so we could really talk before entering a lobby with possibly other people.

"What are you doing," she asked annoyed and about to hit the stop button again. I slapped her hand away.

"Ow," she proclaimed. I knew I didn't hit her that hard.

"What's up with you," I asked blocking her access to the elevator buttons.

"Nothing, I just….I don't know. It's all Smallville's fault. He made it evident to me that many people don't like me," she replied.

"Did he say that," I asked shocked that he would do such a thing to Lois. It was pretty clear he was holding quite the candle for her.

"No, not exactly. I don't know," she blushed. "I can't believe I'm saying this to you but I have dirt on you. So if you speak of this to anyone-"

I cut her off, "I got it. You got the goods on me and we are in a stalemate."

"I know you and Smallville are close, but how close are you," she asked.

"What do you mean," I asked confused and not sure where she was going with her questioning.

"Did you two date? That is what I am trying to get at," she asked as if it took all her strength to do so.

I couldn't help but smile, "No." I saw her face and I wasn't convincing her. My demeanor changed instantly as I could tell this was really bothering her. "No. Not at all. We are just really good friends is all. I swear."

"I just feel like there is something he isn't telling me," she said, "and you seem to be privy to it."

"You need to talk to Clark," I said trying to be vague.

"So you do know something I don't know," she replied.

"I know this, it is not my place to tell you anything," I said seeing if that answer would suffice.

"Does he know about your other persona," she asked still trying to put the pieces together.

"Apparently a lot more people know than I would like," I said still a little annoyed that she knew. I pushed the stop button on the elevator again. It started to go, but then stopped again.

"That's strange," I said as the lights went off and the emergency lights came on.

"I don't know what you did, but I do the "stop the elevator trick" all the time and it has never done that," she replied. Then I heard something. It was faint, but it sounded like someone landed in the elevator shaft. Lois was about to say something before I put a hand over her mouth. I put one finger to mine gesturing for her to be quiet. I pointed down to her and we both got low to the floor. I checked my phone, no signal which never happened. Was someone jamming the signal? I looked up steadying my breath. Someone was there. I crouched low and went to the control panel on the elevator.

"We need to get out of here now," I whispered to Lois. I pulled the cover to the control panel open and quickly found the wires I needed to get the doors open. I grabbed my small swiss arm knife off of my keychain and used it to cut wires as Batman showed me.

"Why, what's-" Lois was cut off by a loud noise. It sounded like the cables to the elevator were being cut. The doors opened, and luckily we were aligned closely to a floor.

"Quickly, quickly," I said pushing her through the doors. I followed right behind as the elevator started to fall down.

"What the hell," Lois said backing away. We were on the 20th floor. I looked around and my eyes quickly found the stairwell.

"Come on," I said grabbing her arm and running to it. Lois started to go down but I pulled her up.

"We want to get out of here right," she asked looking at me confused.

"Trust me whoever cut those lines is counting on it. We need to go up," I said pulling her arm again.

We ran up the stairs quickly and then I heard it. One of the stairwell doors opened. We got up to the 25th floor by then. It will have to do. I gestured for Lois to be quiet and motioned for her to leave the stairwell with me. I had never been on this floor before. The offices on this floor were for a fitness magazine.

"My phone isn't working," Lois whispered. I shushed her again and had us hide in a cubicle. Whoever cut those cables was looking for us. I looked down at my phone again. No signal still.

"Shit," I whispered, "we are on our own for now."

"Well, you are Batgirl. I think I like our odds," she said back. Then I heard a door open and the lights turned on. A familiar voice rang out.

"You are not going to be able to hide from me and running is not an option. So you might as well come out," Talia al Ghul said. What did she want? Why was she after me? I sighed knowing she was right.

"Don't move," I whispered to Lois as I stepped out of the cubicle. I found a place where Talia could see me.

"What do you want," I said out loud. She smirked as she saw me.

"Aw Miss Gordon, I don't think we have ever met face-to-face like this. You are missing your usual attire," Talia said. I knew she knew about me, but it was still jarring having someone know your secret like that.

"I thought Ra's and Batman had an agreement. So why are you here trying to kill me," I asked cutting the chit-chat.

"Who said I was here for you, I'm here for Ms. Lane," she replied.

"Why," I asked getting into a fighting stance.

"She's digging where she shouldn't be digging."

"Whatever it is, I will have her stop, but you have to back off first," I said looking around for a possible fast exit.

"No, she has to die. Besides we all know she will never drop a story," Talia said pulling a gun out and shooting where she thought Lois was. Luckily Lois wasn't there anymore. I didn't try to even look for her because I didn't want to tip Talia off to her location, then I spotted a pair of scissors and an Exacto knife and threw them both at Talia. She couldn't dodge both and one of them caused her to drop the gun.

Seeing an opportunity, I rushed forward and kicked her gun away. Before I knew it, she was coming at me in full force. We both seemed to be evenly matched as we blocked each other's fists. I decided to get more aggressive. I allowed her to get a hit in and I pushed her hard against a load-bearing column in the middle of the magazine's bullpen. I then gave her a swift kick in her midsection. I could see Lois scramble away into an office out of the corner of my eye. Shit. She's going to get herself killed like that. Talia saw that I was distracted and used the moment to kick me across the room. Her kick was quick and felt almost lethal. She quickly grabbed items out of a cup on a nearby desk and flung them at me. I leaped behind a cubicle wall and saw a pair of scissors go through it next to my head. Then I heard the fire alarm. Lois must have pulled it. Which means she is out in the open. I knew I had to knock out Talia or at least keep her busy enough so that Lois could get away. I came out of cover and yelled to get her attention.

"Hey we aren't done yet," I yelled. Talia stopped in her tracks and glared at me.

"Well, it seems like we have both broken my beloved's and my father's wishes. We might as well finish this. I don't like seeing my beloved galavanting around Gotham with you anyways," she replied getting her sword out from the sheath behind her back.

"Your beloved? That does not sound creepy at all," I returned.

Lights flashed all around us as the alarm was still blaring. First responders would be here soon. I needed to end this now. She came charging at me with her sword. I was able to dodge it mostly. The tip of her blade sliced my arm. I ignored the burning pain and kicked Talia with full force from behind. It caused her to fall forward. I immediately stepped on her hand, causing her to relinquish the sword. I kicked it away before she grabbed my ankle and pulled me down which caused me to hit the floor hard. I quickly recovered and gave her a hard kick to the face. Next, we were both getting jabs and kicks in whenever we could. She got a really good punch in on my jaw. I started to fall but caught myself on a desk and my head kissed the desk hard enough to leave a mark.

"I see that even out of costume you still play by his rules," Talia seethed into my ear as she held me down onto the desk, "he can get away with no killing, but you, you are going to end up dead if you keep that rule of his.

"Alright, no more ninja bullshit. You're right, if I'm going to win this, I'm going to have to play dirty," I gritted my teeth and slammed my head back. I must have gotten her nose because I heard her yelp loudly.

I whipped around and went straight at her. I had her pinned to the ground as I punched her in the face three times until she flipped us over and started doing the same. I decided to go old school next as I grabbed a chunk of her hair and pulled it so hard that some of it ripped out of her scalp. Her hand went to her head in agony which allowed me to get on top of her once more. I got a few punches in until grabbed a loose pen on the ground and tried to stab me with it. I was able to knock it out of her hands but it allowed her to switch positions with me. Soon her hands managed to get locked onto my throat and tried to crush my windpipe. Air was unable to escape or enter my body.

"You will pay for your insolence," she seethed, "my beloved will forgive me." My right hand felt around for something, anything I could use. Then I felt it, a small paperweight at my fingertips. I grabbed it and smashed it as hard as I could against Tala's head. She immediately let go of my throat and slumped to the ground with a thud. I coughed as I tried to let my lungs expand with air again and crawled towards the nearest desk. I used it to help myself get up. Talia was still out cold on the floor. Then I saw Lois rush up to me.

"Barbara, are you okay," she asked concerned.

"Dandy," I said as I limped past her toward Talia. I ripped a USB cord from a computer and used it to tie Talia's hands and feet behind her. Before I knew it the fire alarm turned off. First responders would be here at any moment. Then a streak of blue and red blurred my vision and was right beside us.

"Lois! Are you alright?" Superman said concerned.

"I'm fine," I said loudly. Sure Lois barely has a scratch on her and I'm just bleeding profusely from my arm and my forehead.

He looked at me concerned. "Barbara, are you okay," he asked sheepishly.

"I'm fine. I'll just walk it off," I said annoyed. I then glanced at where Talia was or had been. Shit. She's gone.

"We need to get out of here, the first responders are going to have too many questions that I'm not going to be able to answer." Superman nodded and we were on our way.

I had Superman take us back to Bruce's penthouse. Lois had her questions but we all had ours for her too. She explained that she was working on a story that involved money laundering and she was about to trace it back to Nanda Parbat. Once she said the words "Nanda Parbat" Batman came out of the shadows. I heard him come in long ago but I didn't want to break Lois's train of thought.

"Jesus Bruce, do you have to do that," Lois said. She was the only one startled.

"You're lucky Barbara was there," he said still looking at Lois with an intimidating stare.

"I sure was...beloved," she mused. She was not afraid of him. I gave a slight grin. I know Bruce hated that Talia called him that, but I never dared to tease him about it.

"This isn't funny Lois. You both could have been killed very easily tonight," Bruce interjected. He was angry with her.

"But we didn't," I responded giving Bruce a death glare. For some reason, I felt that I needed to defuse the situation. Even though Bruce and Lois dated, I don't think she ever saw Bruce truly mad. He glared back at me.

"That looks like it needs stitches," he said looking at the cut on my arm. He walked off toward the bathroom. I knew he was going to go and get the suture kit out. I looked at Lois and Superman and shrugged my shoulders. I wasn't sure why Bruce was so angry and I wanted to convey that to them without saying a word.

"Sit," he gestured to the bathroom counter. The bathroom was huge. Hell, it had more counter space than my kitchen.

"So are you going to tell me why you're so pissed," I asked staring at him as he went through the suture kit.

"I told her to back off that story a week ago because I knew where it would lead," he said getting a solution ready to flush out wounds.

"Now that's a knee-slapper. You probably just encouraged her even more by doing that," I replied giving him a look. He grimaced and started using the solution to flush out the wound on my arm. I seethed a little.

"This isn't too bad," he said taking a closer look. His gloveless hands worked deftly as he used sutures to close the wound. It hurt like hell but it had to be done. Both me and Bruce were pros at getting stitches at this point in our lives.

"I went to the scene to look and see if there was any evidence as to where Talia went," he replied.

"What'd you find?"

"All I found was a chunk of her hair on the ground," he smirked a little bit. Oh ya, I almost totally forgot that I did that.

"What can I say, you can take the girl out of Gotham but you can't take the Gotham out of the girl," I smiled proudly.

"I don't think Talia is used to that kind of fighting," he said as he moved onto the gash on my forehead.

"Please. It's not like I took my hoops off and put on brass knuckles. She'll live," I replied flatly.

"You did good," he admitted.

"Well, we all didn't have fancy kung fu training. Some of us had to learn on the streets," I mocked as I held up my fists.

"I want you to stay here with Lois tonight. Superman and I are going to get her to back off. We both know that Talia isn't going to give up," he said looking at me seriously.

"She's gonna be pissed, so I'll have my work cut out for me then," I said winching as he put a bandage on my forehead. A few moments went by before he spoke again.

"I hope you have some turtle necks because this is going to bruise", he said gently touching my neck. I wasn't expecting that and a chill ran up my spine. He seemed to notice that and quickly pulled away as my eyes flashed to his.

"How have you been feeling," he asked trying to recover. I knew he was referring to the fear toxin episode I had. Truth was that I wasn't doing great. My sleep was horrible and I was having flashbacks sometimes during the day.

"Oh you know, PTSD... it's a bitch," I said looking at him in the eyes, "but I'm working through it."

He grimaced at that, "I know what you mean."

I was taken aback a little bit. Did Bruce actually admit that he suffered from PTSD too?

When I was a child I saw a therapist who specialized in trauma. My mom had been dead for about 6 months and I had a panic attack when my dad went to the hospital. He was shot in the shoulder. He was going to be okay but 10-year-old me just thought about how I might lose another parent. I certainly could not see a therapist now without having to do some major lying, but I remember a coping tool my therapist taught me called "safe place". She told me to visualize my safe place whenever I felt like I was about to have a panic attack. My safe place at first was the library I used to go to with my mom. Then it changed to the computer lab at school. In college, I would imagine I was in my Dad's office sitting at the small desk he had set up for me in the corner. In junior high and high school, I used to go there after school and do my homework. Now I found myself visualizing a different safe place. My mind always seemed to calm when I pictured Bruce putting his forehead against mine and telling me to focus on my breathing. It has been like that since the incident on the Watchtower.

"I'm sorry that you know what I mean," I said sincerely.

"Thank you," he replied. A "thank you"? What is going on? He started to pull away from me and clean up the first aid supplies until I reached out for his hand.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem a bit off," I said keeping my hand on his.

"I'm working through it," he said mirroring my words from earlier.

I probably got the most real and honest answer that Bruce has ever given to anyone about his mental health.

"You better get out of here so you can stop your ex from killing your other ex," I said smirking. He didn't reply. I knew he was annoyed with that comment.